


Things That Go Bump in the Night

by alchemicink



Category: Hey! Say! JUMP
Genre: #cartwheelingintothelagoon, (not so) scary stories, Gen, Humor, Not Swamp Thing, Parody, The Boogie Man, The Creature from the Black Lagoon, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow - Freeform, dancing (or lack thereof), headless horseman - Freeform, table-flipping escape, the mummy - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-31
Updated: 2014-10-31
Packaged: 2018-02-23 08:09:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,519
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2540576
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alchemicink/pseuds/alchemicink
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Yabu demands scary stories. JUMP delivers with… uh, varying results.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Things That Go Bump in the Night

**Author's Note:**

> I love Halloween and I wanted to write fic for Halloween. So I tried writing scary stories. But I suck at scary stories, so they all turned out to be ridiculous instead. Hope you all enjoy them anyway! 
> 
> Along with the usual disclaimer, I would also like to credit The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, The Mummy, and The Creature from the Black Lagoon (despite the fact that none of these stories really resemble the originals) 
> 
> Also to note: I rushed to finish this so it hasn't been proofread. OH WELL. Happy Halloween!!

It was a normal Monday morning, which for JUMP meant dance practice that they didn’t really want to attend. Nobody was ever enthusiastic about work on a Monday morning. But as they started stretching, it seemed like Yamada was even less enthusiastic than usual. 

“Why do you look so tired?” Chinen asked. Contrary to Yamada’s exhaustion, Chinen looked almost inhumanly energetic and cheerful. He stretched into a split and Takaki just watched with a pained expression. 

Yamada leaned with his back facing away from the wall mirror so he couldn’t see the dark circles underneath his own eyes. “I didn’t sleep last night.” 

“I bet you were doing something dirty,” Hikaru teased and wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. Then he winced as Yabu slapped him in the back of the head. Hikaru moved to whack Yabu in return, but the older boy just grinned mischievously and crouched down behind Daiki. 

Yamada looked like he didn’t even have the energy to get annoyed. “No, I was up late reading a book of scary stories. And then I couldn’t sleep afterwards.” 

“What book was it?” Inoo asked.

“It’s called _Things That Go Bump in the Night_ ,” he answered.

Daiki scratched his head. “I never understood that phrase. _Things that go bump in the night?_ Why are they bumping?”

“Because they’re listening to _Beat Line_?” Yuto joked. “Because _tachimukae bumpin’ bumpin_ …” he trailed off quoting song lyrics because everyone was staring at him. “It was a joke! Why aren’t you laughing?”

“Needs some work,” Hikaru said. 

“It’s because it’s too dark to see so they keep running into things,” Keito said, completely seriously. Hikaru nodded in approval at this answer.

“Tell us a story!” Yabu interrupted. “I wanna hear one of these _so-called_ scary stories that kept you awake all night. I bet it’s not even terrifying.” 

Yamada just barely mustered up the energy to roll his eyes at Yabu, and then he let out an exasperated sigh. He motioned for everyone to gather around as he sat down on the floor. But he, unfortunately, sat down on somebody’s gym bag. Too tired, he didn’t even move. He just took a deep breath and began.

“There once was a town named Sleepy Hollow…”

“Boring,” Yabu interrupted again. “I’ve heard this story before. Make it more exciting.” 

Yabu’s incessant demands apparently gave Yamada a tiny burst of energy because then Yamada rummaged around in the bag he was sitting on and threw a dirty sock at Yabu’s head. The rest of the group laughed at the scene. Well, the rest of the group laughed except Daiki who realized that it was _his_ sock. 

“Alright,” Yamada sighed again. “The Headless Horseman will be Yuto.” 

“Ooh!” Yuto clapped his hands in excitement. Yabu nodded in approval.

“And the cowardly, superstitious schoolteacher will be played by Yabu.” 

“Wait, what?”

“Don’t talk,” Yamada said, finally interrupting Yabu. “I’m trying to tell a story.” He cleared his throat. “So there once was a town named Sleepy Hollow…”

**Yamada’s Story: The Headless Horseman and His Favorite Prank**

The residents of Sleepy Hollow lived relatively normal, quiet lives. Nothing very exciting really happened. People woke up every morning, went to work, came back home and went to bed. Really. That was it. It was the picture perfect ideal of boring.

And it was that kind of lifestyle that drew Mr. Yabu Kota to the town. His former life in New York City had been too busy, too hectic, too _exciting_. He longed to just be a normal schoolteacher in a small town. So after answering a want ad for the Sleepy Hollow School, Mr. Yabu packed up his bags and moved to the town. 

Unfortunately for Mr. Yabu, however, he had no idea that the town was getting not one but _two_ new residents. 

Nakajima Yuto had been a fearless rogue who wandered around the countryside. Living for adventure, he was always getting himself into some sort of trouble. But his carefree attitude and friendly personality usually helped him out of bad situations. 

So it came as a shock to Yuto when he accidentally lost his head. Well, maybe _shocked_ was not exactly the right word. It was more like “I can’t believe I tripped and fell right in front of that cannon as it was firing.” Due to the angle of his fall and the projection of the cannonball, Yuto’s head got completely knocked off. The shock part came in when Yuto realized that he didn’t die despite the fact that his head was unattached to his body. He guessed it probably had something to do with the time an old lady in the woods once put a curse on him after he’d accidentally rode his horse right through her garden, trampling all the squash plants (which he thought had been hilariously ironic, but the lady hadn’t). He hadn’t been paying close attention to what she was yelling at him since he was trying to run away, but he definitely remembered hearing the phrase “crooked head” a few times.

Deciding not to think too hard about it, Yuto shrugged his shoulders and hesitantly felt his way towards his head. (It was harder to avoid tree branches when your eyes were watching from a distance) The problem, he soon discovered, was that he couldn’t exactly put his head back on straight. He set his head back on his shoulders, but it kept tilting to the side. After about twenty tries, he gave up and just decided to carry his head around with him. With that finally settled, he climbed back on his horse and continued on his merry way.

So essentially that’s how Nakajima Yuto became known as the Headless Horseman. People who lived around the outskirts of Sleepy Hollow soon started spotting a headless figure who rode his horse at night. Rumors began to spread and, for a bit, Sleepy Hollow was not quite as sleepy as before. 

As mentioned earlier, this was right around the same time Mr. Yabu Kota had moved to the town, and considering that he was practically afraid of his own shadow, he wasn’t exactly thrilled to hear these terrifying rumors about the Headless Horseman wreaking havoc outside the town limits. He was beginning to think he would have been safer staying in New York City where all he had to fear was getting shanked in the back alley or finding a stray tomato in his salad. His old home had been supernatural-terror free at least. 

On one chilly October night, Mr. Yabu had stayed late at the schoolhouse grading papers. He had procrastinated a bit and had a lot to catch up on, so he stayed at his desk until all the papers were done and his candles had burned down. He poked his head out the door to check if the coast was clear, and then he crept silently outside. It was a long walk back to his house and it was too dark to sprint because he often took wrong turns and ended up very lost. He didn’t want to be lost in the middle of the night, not with all the stories of the Headless Horseman he’d been hearing lately.

“Ghosts can’t hurt me, ghosts can’t hurt me,” he whisper-chanted to himself as he walked as fast as he could down the dusty path. But faintly in the distance, he began to hear the distinct sound of hoof beats. “Ghosts can’t hurt me, ghosts can’t hurt me, _ghostscanthurtme_.” His pace had increased to a jog. He was about to cross the bridge leading into town.

“I’m not a ghost though!” a voice called out from somewhere behind him. Mr. Yabu looked over his shoulder to see a horse and rider rapidly approaching, and it looked as though his mouth and eyes were glowing. “I’m just a guy with a detachable head!” the rider shouted. To demonstrate, the rider picked up his head and threw it as hard as he could at Mr. Yabu. 

Mr. Yabu let out a high-pitched shriek and dashed across the bridge as fast as he could. He didn’t care if he might take a few wrong turns on the way home. All he knew was that he needed to get as far away from the Headless Horseman as possible. As soon as he reached home he was going to pack his bags and high-tail it back to New York City. He never wanted to step foot in Sleepy Hollow ever again.

Nakajima Yuto laughed as he precariously perched his own head back on his shoulders. Despite the world being tilted, he still watched the scaredy-cat schoolteacher run away. He halted his horse at the bridge. In the moonlight, he could just barely make out the smashed remains of the jack-o-lantern pumpkin that had been resting on his shoulders earlier before he’d thrown it. He thought for a moment about picking it up, but in the end, decided to leave it. The smashed up pumpkin and the mysterious disappearance of the schoolteacher would give the town something to talk about in the morning. They needed some excitement in Sleepy Hollow. 

And so, the legend of the Headless Horseman and his weird pranks continued.

 

“…the end,” Yamada concluded with a yawn. 

“I didn’t like it,” Yabu frowned. 

“I did,” Hikaru said with a grin. “Perfect casting choices.” He poked Yabu in the cheek and Inoo joined in, poking the other side. Yabu waved them both away. 

Even though Yabu wasn’t happy with how Yamada had changed the story, everyone else had enjoyed it. And they were still looking for excuses to continue avoiding dance practice, so no one was surprised when Yuto claimed that he had a scary story to share as well. 

“Let’s hear it,” Daiki said.

“It all starts in the Egyptian desert…”

**Yuto’s Story: The Curse of the Mummy**

Professor Yabu Kota didn’t often leave the university where he taught archeology, but occasionally he was able to slip in an archeological dig or two. This time he had gone to explore a pyramid in Egypt. There were rumors of a curse if the tomb was disturbed, so the old pyramid had barely been touched in centuries. 

Prof. Yabu, however, didn’t believe in curses. Obviously, the ancient Egyptians had spread rumors of the curse to keep people from robbing the treasures stored in the tomb. There was nothing to fear except for all the dust and sand maybe triggering his allergies. 

The entrance tunnel was narrow and cramped. Prof. Yabu took a deep breath as he stepped inside and could taste the stale air. Dust was already starting to coat the inside of his mouth, leaving a scratchy feeling behind. His flashlight cast shadows on the walls adorned with ancient art, but the darkness mixed with light twisted the pictures into something more eerie. After what felt like hours of slowly making his way through the maze of tunnels deeper into the pyramid, he finally stepped into a wide open room filled with dusty treasure. 

He got to work right away, taking pictures and taking notes. Because preservation was a part of his job, he was careful not to disturb anything. He worked, quietly focused, for an hour or so until he caught a bit of movement out of the corner of his eye. He thought that was strange since he was alone. Perhaps it was just a trick of the low light in the room? Or maybe a stray rat that had worked its way inside? 

Shaking it off, Prof. Yabu went back to work. But then he _heard_ something. Something like a creaking sound. And then a sluggish shuffling sound. Prof. Yabu froze. He nervously swallowed, still tasting the dust in his mouth. Just then, a group of scorpions scurried past him towards the entranceway. He let out a breath of relief.

“At least it wasn’t snakes,” he muttered to himself.

As he said that, one lone snake slithered out from the same place the scorpions came from and followed them out the doorway. Prof. Yabu pressed himself up against the wall and watched the snake in terror until it disappeared. 

When he finally decided the coast was clear, Prof. Yabu moved to start working again. But this time, the next unexpected noise he heard was _a sneeze_! 

Prof. Yabu’s eyes widened as he spun around to look for the source. Even though he was terrified, he knew he had to gather as much information about the situation as he could. What he saw when he turned was a body wrapped in dirty old bandages standing in front of him, nonchalantly wiping his nose. 

“Hi,” the corpse said. His voice came out in a wheezing rasp which might have been funny to Prof. Yabu if he hadn’t been so terrified. He wanted to look away but couldn’t as the mummy reached up and unwrapped his head bandages. Surprisingly, for a rotting corpse though, he didn’t look all that horrifying underneath. Just a little dusty.

“Hi?” Prof. Yabu said back.

“I’m Inoo,” the mummy said, and then plopped down into a fancy-looking gold chair nearby. 

Prof. Yabu blinked a few times in disbelief. “That’s not a very Egyptian name.” 

Inoo the Mummy shrugged a bit as he began rummaging around through a few things by his feet. “It’s not a very common name,” he agreed. “Anyway, wanna play a game Mr…?”

“ _Professor_ Yabu Kota,” he answered, almost forgetting for a moment who he was talking to. “And, uh… yes? I guess…” To be honest, he didn’t really want to play anything. He wanted to be as far away from the pyramid as possible, but he didn’t want to upset the undead creature before him. His colleagues’ talk of curses began to echo in his head.

“Yay!” Inoo the Mummy happily exclaimed and pulled out what looked to be an ancient deck of playing cards. He told Prof. Yabu to pull up a chair and table so they could play. Inoo began to shuffle the cards but the movement made a few of his rotting fingers fall off. Prof. Yabu stared in horror.

“Oh don’t worry,” Inoo said. “That happens all the time. Perhaps you could shuffle the deck for me?” He carefully wrapped enough bandages around his fingers to reattach the missing ones to his hands.

The card game was simple enough. They split the deck between them and simply had to lay one card down at a time. The person with the higher card got to keep both. The game would be over whenever one person ran out of cards. 

After a few rounds, Prof. Yabu got used to the idea of playing cards with an undead mummy and decided that this might actually be a good way to gather more information about ancient Egypt. He could gather enough information to write an academic article on the subject and then he’d get more funding from his university. And that meant he could take more time off for archeological digs instead of teaching. 

This good idea, however, didn’t last very long since he was pretty sure Inoo was just making up half of his answers. Inoo had been going on and on for the last fifteen minutes about having canoe races across the Nile in order to determine who got all the leftover food after holiday celebrations. It was a very detailed story (Inoo was currently explaining the different ways to rig your canoe to go faster) but Prof. Yabu was sure the entire thing was bullshit. 

After about three hours of playing cards and listening to Inoo’s stories, Prof. Yabu figured that he really wasn’t getting as much information as he had wanted. This whole thing had been a waste of time. He kept trying to end the card game but every time he was close to either winning or losing, Inoo would suddenly “remember” another rule of the game to keep it going. It was getting more and more complicated, and when Inoo finally added a rule about quacking like a duck every time the ace of spades popped up, Prof. Yabu decided that he’d had enough. 

He subtly looked around the room for a plan to escape. Inoo the Mummy still kinda creeped him out, so he didn’t want to offend him. But he couldn’t think of anything good. So finally, as Inoo finished up a long story about the different ways women use to style their eyelashs, Prof. Yabu pointed to the corner of the room behind Inoo.

“Look over there!” he shouted. And when Inoo slowly turned around to look, Prof. Yabu flipped the card table over and ran away as fast as his legs could take him, leaving a trail of dust as the only evidence that he’d ever been there. 

And so, that’s how Prof. Yabu learned how real the curse of the mummy actually was. It was the curse of being stuck for hours playing dumb card games with a ridiculous dead guy. 

 

“…the end,” Yuto concluded. He waited eagerly for the group’s response. 

“That wasn’t very scary,” Keito pointed out. 

“I don’t know,” Daiki said, “the idea of Yabu as a professor of _anything_ is frightening.” 

Yabu pouted. “I resent that.”

“Oh, I actually have a story about a lady’s eyelashes,” Inoo said. He looked quite pleased at his role in Yuto’s story. 

“Maybe later,” Hikaru said. “We need more scary stories.” 

Takaki jumped up. “My turn!” 

“A hundred yen that his story has something to do with the beach,” Chinen whispered to Keito. 

Takaki announced his story with the most dramatic voice he could muster up. “This is the tale of…” he kept pausing for dramatic effect, “The Creature… from… the… Black Lagoon.” He reached out and flicked the light switch a few times to simulate lightning. 

“That would have worked better with thunder,” Hikaru said, unimpressed. 

Yuto did a drumroll on the floor and Takaki flicked the lights again. “The Black Lagooooooon,” he repeated.

“That’s better.” 

Keito sadly handed Chinen a hundred yen.

“There once lived a tragically misunderstood creature in a black lagoon by the sea…”

**Takaki’s Story: The Creature from the Black Lagoon (Not to be confused with Swamp Thing)**

Nobody ever visited the Black Lagoon. The wide cover from the tree tops kept the sunlight out, and the thick brush made it extremely difficult for anyone to reach the lagoon at all. There were stories about a monster that lived there, but no one had actually seen it before. That is, until one day when Chinen Yuri was exploring the woods and got lost.

“This doesn’t look like the beach,” Chinen said to himself as soon as he stepped to the edge of the murky black water. He was about to climb back through the thick underbrush the way he came, when he noticed a pair of eyes watching him from the middle of the lagoon. Chinen didn’t move as the eyes swam closer and closer to him. 

“It’s Swamp Thing!” Chinen exclaimed as the creature climbed out of the water and stood on the beach. It was tall, green, and covered with scales like a fish. 

_Nooo_ , the creature waved his arms in despair. _I’m the creature from the Black Lagoon! My name is Yabu Gill-man!_ He couldn’t speak because, as a fish creature, he didn’t have a voice. So he just kept trying to communicate via hand motions. _Really, this isn’t even a swamp._

Chinen, of course, had no idea what the creature’s hand motions meant. “Sorry, but I’m terrible at charades. It’s actually the one thing I’m really bad at,” he explained. “Seriously, I’m pretty good at dancing and the flying trapeze and doing all kinds of stunts.” He counted the things he listed on his fingers. “Oh, I once won a Jenga tournament too. But charades is not one of my skills.” 

Yabu Gill-man threw his hands up in exasperation. _Whatever. Please stay for a while._ He gestured for Chinen to sit down somewhere. _I can make some tea._ He mimed drinking tea by clasping his fin-like fingers together and sticking his pinky finger in the air, but Chinen just shrugged in confusion. 

“I’ve never met a monster like Swamp Thing before,” Chinen said as he made himself comfortable on a nearby log. 

Yabu Gill-man waved his arms again as he searched for his tea and teapot. _Not a swamp! Not Swamp Thing!_ He gestured towards the lagoon for emphasis. _Honestly, swamps and lagoons are two completely separate things._ He put up two fingers and spread his arms as far apart as possible. _Swamps are not really a body of water. They are wetlands near rivers or lakes._ His arms undulated like snakes before he clasped them together to create a circle. _They aren’t usually near the ocean and they have trees growing out the middle of all the water._ He held one arm parallel to the ground and then placed the other one behind it to point vertically into the air. He wiggled his webbed-fingers like tree branches in the wind. _Lagoons are technically like a lake with only three sides. Like someone punched a hole in the side of it and let all the water spill out._ He punched the air and then mimed swimming through the opening. _Sometimes they have reefs too. I mean, seriously, do your research, man._

Chinen just watched the erratic arm-waving with a blank stare.

“Two words? Sounds like pie?” Chinen hesitantly guessed with complete inaccuracy.

Yabu Gill-man just slapped his forehead in exasperation, and then handed Chinen a tiny cup of black tea.

“I really should be going,” Chinen said after he finished his tea. “I was supposed to be at the beach by now.” He stood up to leave but Yabu Gill-man blocked his path. Chinen tried to step around him but Yabu Gill-man just moved again. 

_Don’t leave now. We’re having so much fun!_ Yabu Gill-man pointed to the smile on his face. 

Chinen scratched his head and narrowed his eyes before guessing again. “Tastes like…?”

 _We’re NOT playing charades!_ He flailed his arms up and down in annoyance. 

“…chicken?” Chinen continued. 

Yabu Gill-man was beginning to realize this was a lost cause but he still didn’t want Chinen to leave. It was lonely in the Black Lagoon and he wanted someone to hang out with, even if he couldn’t communicate with that person. He crossed his arms while giving Chinen a stern look and stood so that no one could leave the lagoon. 

Chinen, at least, seemed to understand that the creature wasn’t going to let him go so easily. So Chinen did what he did best. He challenged Yabu Gill-man to a competition.

“Alright Swamp Thing,” Chinen began.

_How many times do I have to tell you I’m not Swamp Thing!_

“We’ll have a competition,” he declared. “And if I win, you let me go.”

Yabu Gill-man stroked his scaly chin while he considered the offer. _Okay, let’s do it._ He nodded and looked determined. There was no way he was going to lose. 

“It’s going to be a gymnastics competition.”

_That’s completely unfair!_

Chinen ignored the unhappy hand movements and began explaining the rules of the competition. They would both have to do a variety of stunts, executed as perfectly as possible. Yabu Gill-man was a bit concerned by the rules because he hadn’t done so much as a backflip since he was a little monster-guppy. But he agreed and shook hands with Chinen. He couldn’t explain the problem to Chinen anyway.

They started off with front flips. With amazing precision, Chinen executed the flips perfectly, doing several in a row. He made it look like the most effortless move on the planet. Yabu Gill-man was not feeling too good about his chances. But, fortunately for him, he managed to do about two front flips in a row. He stumbled a bit as his feet touched the ground but otherwise stuck the landing. Chinen applauded politely. 

The next part of the competition was back flips. Again, Chinen went first. And again, Chinen did the flips fantastically. It looked like gold-medal-winning gymnastics. Feeling discouraged after Chinen finished, Yabu got ready to do his own back flip. Without hesitation, Yabu Gill-man jumped into the air, throwing his legs up as high as he could. And then suddenly, he was lying on his back on the ground. 

“You okay?” Chinen’s face loomed over him from his perspective in the dirt. 

He nodded. _I could do this when I was smaller, I swear_. He waved his hand around about the height he’d been before his growth spurt a few years ago. 

Chinen just blinked. “How about we move on to the last competition?”

The last one was doing cartwheels. Yabu Gill-man felt a little more confident about this one. It was simple enough. But he started feeling less confident as he watched with amazement as the short guy pulled off an impressive set of cartwheels. (Although he supposed he shouldn’t be surprised by now.) When Chinen started doing one-handed cartwheels, Yabu Gill-man knew he was in trouble.

After about ten cartwheels in a row, Chinen finished the set off with one no-handed cartwheel. The landing was perfect. He hadn’t even broken a sweat. “Your turn!” he said brightly. 

Yabu Gill-man gulped (and it was not because he was currently a fish out of water).

“Come on. Cartwheels aren’t that hard.” 

Yabu Gill-man readied himself by raising his arms up and spreading his legs apart. He lurched forward but then second-guessed himself and stopped. He glanced over at Chinen who was just waiting patiently on the log. 

Swallowing nervously, he gathered up his composure again and finally did a cartwheel. It was perfect. Surprised by his sudden skill, Yabu Gill-man kept going. He turned cartwheel after cartwheel. _I’m doing it! I’m doing it!_ He was giddy with the excitement of finally being able to beat Chinen at something. And because he was so distracted by his stroke of good luck, he kept on cartwheeling right into the lagoon. 

Noooooooo. He silently wailed in despair as he began to sink deeper into the familiar waters. He could hear Chinen’s voice, slightly garbled as the sound travelled through the water to his ears.

“Alright then,” Chinen jumped up from his log. “Gotta go! See you later Swamp Thing!” 

_This is the Black Lagoo—oh forget it._

And so, that’s how the Creature of the Black Lagoon decided to take up gymnastics lessons.

 

“…the end,” Takaki said. 

The entire group blinked in confusion at the weird story. 

“There wasn’t a single ounce of scariness in that,” Hikaru complained.

Takaki shrugged. “But there was a monster.”

Chinen frowned. “I’m not _that bad_ at charades,” he protested.

“Yes you are,” Yuto said. “You couldn’t even guess _hip pocket_. I mean, I literally pointed to my hip and then to my pocket. How could you not get that?” 

He couldn’t seem to come up with an answer to that. “Charades are stupid,” Chinen muttered.

“Why didn’t Yabu Gill-man just write his words in the dirt with a stick?” Keito asked but no one was listening to him. 

“How do I keep getting cast in these stories?” Yabu asked. He tried to muster up the most annoyed face he could make, but he just looked like he was squinting because he couldn’t see. 

“Because you’re the one who complained that they were boring.”

Yabu crossed his arms and put on his best stern face. “Well then, _I’m_ telling the next story.”

“This ought to be good,” Yuto said and nudged Yamada who had fallen asleep sometime during the Mummy story. Yamada swatted at him and rolled over. 

Yabu cleared his throat. “It all starts in a normal bedroom…”

**Yabu’s Story: The Monster Under the Bed**

Okamoto Keito was a busy guy. His days were long as he juggled his time between work, school, and hanging out with friends. On this particular night, it was already past midnight by the time he crawled into bed and curled up under the covers. He wanted to go to sleep straight away since he had to be up early to prepare for a presentation in his public speaking class. 

But just as soon as he closed his eyes, he heard something. It was kind of like the squeak of rubber shoes sliding across a wood floor. And that sound was coming from under his bed. 

Keito froze, not daring to move. Not even daring to breathe. What the heck was making that noise? Sure, the floorboards creaked sometimes in the middle of winter, but they’d never made a sound like that. After a few minutes of listening to the noise, Keito slowly rolled over to the side of his bed. He peeked his head over the side of the bed and cautiously said hello.

“Hello!” a voice called back. 

Shocked, Keito jumped back and then ducked under the covers. When he gathered up the courage to look again, he saw a person standing in the middle of his bedroom. He turned on the lamp by his bed to see the figure better. 

The person looked normal enough except for his clothing and his pose. Dressed in a ridiculous-looking flower suit, he had one arm pointed to the ceiling and the other resting on his hip. It was a John Travolta-esque pose. 

“Who are you? And how did you get into my room?” Keito mustered up the courage to ask. 

“I’m Hikaru, the Monster under the Bed,” the person answered. “Also known as… The Boogie Man.”

“Boogey Man?”

“Yes, that’s what I said. Boogie Man,” Hikaru said, completely oblivious and posed again with his arms switched.

“Well, uh… I kinda need to get some sleep. I’ve got an early presentation for public speaking and I’m nervous about it.” 

Hikaru the Boogie Man reached under Keito’s bed and pulled out a shiny disco ball. “The best cure for nervousness is dancing!” He climbed on top of Keito’s desk and hung the disco ball from the ceiling fan. Little glittery bits of light bounced off the walls like the sparkles on a costume an idol would wear. 

“Really, I think I just need sleep,” Keito protested as Hikaru dragged him out of bed. While he was a pretty good dancer, disco wasn’t really his forte. And all he wanted to do was sleep after his long day. 

“Come on! Let’s boogie!” 

From out of nowhere, some up-tempo disco music full of psychedelic synthesized beats began to play. 

“Where’s that music even coming from?” Keito asked. He watched Hikaru tap his foot to the beat before he busted out some moves. The weird squeaking sound from earlier turned out to be coming from Hikaru’s shoes as he danced. 

“Isn’t this groovy?” Hikaru asked. 

“Sure…” By this point, Keito was hoping that he’d actually fallen asleep earlier and this was all a strange dream. Maybe he shouldn’t have eaten that leftover gyoza before bed. After several minutes of Hikaru’s persistent insistence, Keito finally joined in with some half-hearted disco moves. (He didn’t know many anyway. Just a few he’d heard about from his father whenever he started reminiscing about his “younger days.”)

“Uh… Mr. Boogie Man?” Keito finally managed to interrupt what seemed like hours later. “I think the dancing has cured my nervousness. Can I go to sleep now? I really need to be awake to give my presentation later.” 

Hikaru didn’t stop dancing but he nodded. “I guess we’ve boogied enough for one night. Good luck with that presentation. Oh, and you can keep the disco ball. I have plenty of extras.” And with that, Hikaru danced over to Keito’s bed and crawled under it. Keito peeked underneath a few seconds later, but there was nothing there except for the usual junk. Deciding to shrug it off, Keito settled back into bed and closed his eyes.

And then his alarm went off. 

And so, that’s how Okamoto Keito learned that there was such a thing as too much dancing. 

 

“…the end,” Yabu concluded, looking pleased. 

The rest of the group, however, looked unimpressed. Keito looked distraught. Yamada had fallen back asleep. 

“That was _also_ not a scary story,” Inoo pointed out. 

“Am I being punished for something?” Keito asked, but nobody was listening to him.

Daiki rolled his eyes. “Dancing isn’t scary at all.”

“Speaking of dance…” a voice spoke.

Startled, the whole group turned to see their choreographer standing behind them with an intimidating pose. His normally stern face looked angrier than usual. He had a legendary temper that no one wanted to be on the receiving end of. “Why aren’t you dancing right now?”

The whole group jumped up and scattered to their positions on the dance floor, not even bothering to worry about pulled muscles resulting from not stretching properly. Even Yamada was suddenly full of energy. 

“Now _that’s_ truly scary!” Yuto said.

“It’s the stuff of nightmares,” Takaki agreed.

“Well I’m definitely not sleeping tonight!” Yabu concluded.

And so, that’s how JUMP learned the true meaning of terrifying.

THE END.


End file.
